Where's my Ma?
by Dragon of Frozenflame
Summary: This is kitten's point of veiw of how Daine found her when her Ma died.Takes place at the end of Wild Magic. by the way i'm rewiting the whole immortals series in kits perspective....R&R! 1st chapter of wolf speaker up!
1. Chapter 1

HI!!!!!!!!! I'm a new author this is my very first story!! YAY for me! Yes I know I'm weird. But is it weirdness, or am I just unique? YAY for weirdness/uniqueness!!!!

WERE'S MY MA???

_Ma's been gone a long time _thought Skysong.

The little dragon's mother had left many days ago and Skysong was getting weak and hungry. She whimpered in misery.

Suddenly a bright light filled the cave. "Over here!" a voice said. A human girl with smoky brown hair and stormy-blue eyes, jumped into the cavern. She looked around and spotted Skysong. The girl cautiously crawled over to the baby dragon.

"Come here," the girl whispered softly to the young dragon while picking her up "I won't hurt you."

"Daine?" a concerned voice asked.

"Daine?" an equally concerned second voice asked.

"I'm down here," the girl shouted "No need to come down. I've got her. I'm coming up." With that the girl carried me to the light and was hoisted out of to cave carrying me.

" 'her' huh?" said a man with warm chocolate-brown eyes and raven black hair pulled into a horsetail at the back of his neck. "What's her name?"

"Skysong," the girl answered

_How did she know my name!!! _Skysong thought.

"But I think I'll just call her Kitten, Kit for short." The girl added

_Maybe she knows where my Ma is!! _The little dragon thought excitedly, and whistled her inquirery.

The girl looked down at her and smiled knowingly, "I'm your Ma now little one." She replied, "We're both orphans."

Suddenly Skysong knew, Her Ma was dead.

Pretty good for a 7th grader huh? Now I may be new but I do know you can use that little purple box to make nice reviews for Dragon!

Sincerely, Dragon of Frozenflame


	2. Chapter 2

Alrite did I have you in suspense

All right did I have you in suspense? Because I've been promising to get a new chapter up for over a year, as this was my very first fanfic, **sniffles** and I love it very much! Ok maybe not that that much but I care! So here you go!

Kitten was lonely to say the least.

She was the only one of her kind that was not in the divine realms, and therefore had no other playmates of her own species. Was she where she belonged, in the divine realms, she would be happily playing with the other dragon children, making no end of trouble for her mother.

But no, she was not in the divine realms.

She was in the mortal realms, Courus, Tortall to be exact, and although she loved her adoptive mother dearly, she sometimes wished she still had her birth mother, who had died protecting a place called pirates Swoop for her adoptive mother, because…well…it was a long story.

Her adoptive mother's name was Daine. She was very kind to her, and often brought her to play with some of her friends to make up for the loss of not being able to play with other dragonets. Daine's friends were not "normal" some humans said, but Kit didn't see anything wrong with them. Daine called them "the people" other humans called them "animals."

"I guess they think that humans shouldn't be friends with animals," Daine told her once. "I don't understand why, the people are fairly wonderful friends."

And indeed they were, Kit loved to play with the bear cubs, wolf pups, and other young animals that Daine had a tendency to bring home on occasion. They weren't a complete substitute for the loss of her dragonet playmates, but they were still better than being bored to death.

Being adopted by Daine had its challenges and difficulties, especially because she and her lanky teacher were constantly traveling all over Tortall and dragging her with them. She also was constantly under study by Daine's teacher who was fascinated by her. (But then again he was also known to also be fascinated by caterpillars and the phases of the moon…)

So it was times like these when she wished that her mother were still alive, still with her, still her guardian. It was times like these when she wished she were with her own race… But Daine somehow knew of her thoughts because one day as they sat on a rock to rest during one of their infamous trips Daine said, "Kitten, I know I'm not the perfect mother, a good mother wouldn't drag you all over the country on quests for the king, or would be the same species as you…Anyways, I'm sorry that I'm not your birth mother, I'm sorry I'm not even a good adoptive mother, but I do want you to be happy with me, and in order for you to understand that I decided that I will now give you the ability to stay behind on these trips I go on, because I know how much you hate them."

But when kitten thought about it she realized that she wanted to be with Daine. It was true that she despised the many trips that her adoptive mother went on, but she now understood that she wanted to be with her mother more than she hated the trips.

This sudden realization made her think. She discovered that even if Minthros himself came from the sky and offered to replace Daine with her birth mother, she would choose her human parent over her true mother. True she would be turning down the person who had created her but she could hardly remember her mother. It made her feel guilty, but she knew and trusted Daine more than she did her real mother, it was the sad but real truth on the subject.

But Kitten found that once she knew this it was easier to forget her grievances and to enjoy life with Daine as her mother. And somehow kitten knew that although her mother was sad that her daughter would pick a mortal (a human at that!) over her, she was proud that she had overcome one of the greatest obstacles in life: truth.

Umm…you wanted to know how she would overcome her mother's death and there it is! Now tell me how mental I am using the periwinkle-colored box! (P.S. I am in 8th grade now!)


	3. this decides the fate of this story

NOTICE

NOTICE!!

Ok every one I've had one of my rare brilliance streaks today and I was wondering if I should rewrite the whole Immortals series in Kits perspective!! (Wolf Speaker through Emperor Mage) Please review and tell me what you think, suggestions welcome. By the way for those parts of the book where kit is not present I will still do what she thinks and does while her "mother" (Daine) is away.


	4. Encounters

Hello, all my dedicated readers

Hello, all my dedicated readers! I am glad to say that I will be rewriting the whole Immortals series in Kit's perspective! Hopefully updates will be quick, but if not do not lose hope. Truth be told I've had this idea for some time, and decided only now that I must share my slightly insane ideas with the world!!…Or at least you nice people on fanfiction. A/N: The chapter before this is supposed to take place on the way to Dunlath before Wolf Speaker begins as a deleted scene, okay?

!!

I watched as my ma looked out at the rain, playing with the silver claw on her neck. I wished she would stop, I was not allowed to touch the claw. Ma had learned that my claws were sharp, and if she did so, I often accidentally sliced the leather throng that held the claw in place on her throat. I also got the idea that Ma was thinking, and would not thank me for interrupting her thoughts. So I watched in painful silence as my ma fidgeted with the claw and watched the rainfall outside the cave we had deemed worthy to spend the night in.

"What are you thinking of?"

The voice startled me, and I turned her head to look at the speaker. He had a dark face and brown eyes. He wore his black springy hair back in a horsetail for two reasons: one he did not enjoy having his hair fall in his face as her did his work, and second, he had an idea that if he did not I might decide his hair would be a nice play toy. And as I said earlier, my claws are sharp, and I don't believe he wants a hair cut.

"You look grim," He added.

Ma turned around from the cave entrance to face him, "I'm just wondering if Onua is managing the Rider horses alright without me," she lied, "I know the king told her he needed us to come here, but I still feel as if I should be helping her."

I snorted, they didn't hear me. The lie was a bad one; Numair knew my ma too well to think something like **that** would bother her.

Ma made a face, as he told her just that, and asked what was really bothering her. "I'm scared," she admitted.

This seemed to get his attention, "What of?" He asked.

I considered taking a nap as my mother and her teacher debated whether or not she would go insane when she saw the wolves from her old pack again. The wolves had helped her hunt and kill the bandits that had killed her family and many of her only friends. While with the wolves, my ma had forgotten she was human, and if it had not been for Cloud (Ma's pony) she probably never would have stood on two legs again. Two of the pack--Russet and Fleetfoot--had showed up one day and told them that humans were ruining their new home at Long Lake. Worrying for her friends, Ma had begged to come to the rescue, and had gotten her way since they were conveniently headed toward the place where the Ninth Rider group and a party of twenty Tortallan soldiers had disappeared.

Finally Numair seemed to have proved that she would not go insane, because they were no longer talking of insanity, but instead something about some City of the Gods and an aura…I was getting sleepy, I heard Numair ask Ma how long to their destination. As she was answering she broke off and I heard her yell "Brokefang!"

I looked up, suddenly awake and interested by the new arrivals. Three lead while the other four stayed behind them, two of the ones in the lead she recognized as their guides, Fleetfoot and Russet, but the other one was unfamiliar. He held his tail high and proudly, and I took this as a sign that he was their leader.

Ma ran to them, and disappeared into a pile of excited yelping and tail wagging, as the pack greeted their pack member from long ago.

I was temped to join her, I wanted to meet these animals that had helped my mother when she needed it most, but knowing that many mortal animals were unnerved by the sight of me, I kept to the shadows.

Numair moved to the cave entrance and reminded my ma that she was getting soaked, and asked if they could please move their reunion inside.

Ma invited them in, reminding them not to eat her friends (I hoped I was included, the wolves looked fierce). She introduced them to Numair, while Fleetfoot and Russet moved to sit near the lanky mage, clearly telling the rest of the pack that they liked him. The pack greeted Cloud, Brokefang giving her a few licks, which I was amused to see the temperamental pony return. Cloud had come to a truce with the wolves in the days that Ma had ran with them, but needless to say that the Spots and Mangle had not. Though Ma had certainly reassured them that the wolves would not harm them, their natural fear showed as they shook, whites showing all around their eyes. Once the wolves had finished their greetings the horses moved to the back of the cave and stayed there.

"Kitten," Ma called. I turned my face in the direction of her voice to see her looking around for me, "Come meet the wolves."

Carefully I slipped silently from the shadows in which I had hid myself, to the soft light of the fire. I eyed them warily, I had know enough animals in my short existence thus far to know that if an animal thought I was unnatural they would attack, believing that something like me should not exist. I slowly rose onto my hindquarters to fully inspect them. They stared, ears flicking back and forth with uncertainty, and tails half tucked between their legs. I chirped trying to reassure them.

"This is Skysong," Ma told them, "That's the name her ma gave her, anyway. Mostly we call her Kitten."

The large male I had seen earlier, walked toward me, legs stiff, and sniffed me. He gave the smallest of wags and the others came near me.

Once they had finished their inspection of me, Ma introduced them to Numair who they took an immediate liking to (Ma had told them he was pack now), and taught him how to tell the difference between the wolves.

Once introductions were done, Numair and my ma asked Brokefang about why he needed them, Ma translated everything Brokefang told them so that we could understand. Brokefang told of how the humans were driving off all the game and how they were ruining the forest. They explained that they had already moved their pack from the land where generations of their pack had lived, and that Long Lake was too good to give up on. Brokefang was certain that Ma could help them, and that was why he had sent Fleetfoot and Russet after them.

The wolves left to hunt as Ma translated the last of their words. She moved to the mouth of the cave and watched them disappear into the rain. I realized it was getting dark as Numair took out the pots and pans we always used on journeys like these. I cast a glance at my ma, her eyes were far away, and I knew she was remembering something from long ago, and would not appreciate my company at the moment, so I turned my attention back to the clatter of Numair and metal cooking gear.

After a while Ma spoke, "I think I know why Brokefang changed so much." She said. The following conversation did not interest me, particularly because the lanky mage had gone into one of his famous ramblings again.

What did interest me however, was that he had began to cook supper. Ma sat next to him and began to slice chunks of ham, and seeing what she was doing, I came over to eat--err...I mean, help her.

_--This is very nice,--_a rough voice said in our minds. _--Cozy, especially on a rainy afternoon.—_

Me my ma and her teacher all twisted to look at the cave's entrance. I was surprised to find that it was illuminated by a silver glow that appeared to originate from the animal standing inside it. I had seen an animal like it before, but not nearly as big as this one; Ma had called it a badger. She said that she liked badgers, and that the badger god sometimes visited her in her sleep. She also told me that he had given her one of his claws, despite her protests, to help him keep track of her. I assumed that the large badger before me was the one she had spoken of, if for nothing else, his size. The Badger waddled in and stopped a polite distance from the fire to shake off the rainwater caught in his coat. I dimly noted that Ma had begun to play with the claw at her throat again.

When the Badger had finished, he waddled over to stand between my ma and Numair.

"Daine is this--?" asked a nervous-sounding Numair.

The badger looked at him with coldly intelligent eyes that made me get the shivers just looking at them. _–I told her father I would keep an eye on her. So you are her teacher. She tells me a great deal about you when I visit her.—_

"May I ask you something?"

I rolled my eyes (a habit I had picked up from my ma), that was Numair, curious as ever.

--I am an immortal, the first male creature of my kind. The male badger god if you like. That is what you wished to ask is it not?—

"Yes, and I thank you," Numair said hesitantly.

My eyes were wide, how could he have known what the mage was to have asked? But he had confirmed it; he was definitely the Badger that my ma had told me of.

As Numair and the Badger conversed about mind reading, probe shields, and compared and contrasted immortals with gods, I began to feel slightly impatient, he had come to tell us something, and the mage kept sidetracking him! He finally revealed why he came. I was interested as the large badger told my ma that she was ready to do something new, he told her she could enter the mind of a mortal animal, see what they saw, smell what they smelled, heard what they heard, and so on. But, what he said next surprised me even more.

_--Where is the young dragon?—_

Why would he want to talk to me? What should I say? Surprised, but interested, I walked over from the other side of the fire where I had been watching, and came to sit in front of him, a clump of his fur clenched in my admittedly small claw. I know that to my ma and he teacher, all they heard were my vast vocabulary of trills whistles, chirps, and clicks but the badger heard much more. Someone who really understands me! I thought with excitement. I proceeded to tell the badger all about myself, how well Ma treated me and so on, and was highly pleased that he seemed extremely interested in what I had to say, and listened patiently to me chatter.

After he had listened to me, he went to talk to the horses and Cloud. When he was finished, he returned to Ma and Numair, who were waiting patiently at the fire.

He told us he had to return to his home, and that things had been hectic since the protective wall had been broken.

Numair asked him if he knew who had destroyed the barrier, but the Badger told him he did not know, and with that he disappeared in a flare of silver light.

"Well," said Numair. My ma and me looked at him, expecting him to say more, but he only busied himself with the vegetables.

"I think he puts a magic on me," Ma said suddenly.

"How so?" Numair asked, ever curious.

"Every time I see him, I mean to ask who my da is, and every time I see him I forget! And he's the only one who can tell me, too, drat him."

I gave a trill, concerned for my adoptive mother. To have magic worked on you was not pleasant, or so I had been told.

"I'm alright, Kit," Ma said with a sigh, "Its just not fair though."

"Somehow I doubt the Badger is interested in what's fair." Numair said with a chuckle.

I smiled as best as a dragon could, he was right. Ma gave a one-sided smile as well, she knew too.

"Speaking of what s fair, what do you think of the advice he gave you, about becoming a magical symbiote?"

I tilted my head to the side, and whistled and inquiry. What on earth was a symbiote, nonetheless a magical one!

Ma seemed to agree with me for she said, "A magical sym—sym—whatsits?"

"Symbiote. They are creatures that live off other creatures, but not destructively, as parasites do. An example might be the bird who rides on the bison, picking insects from the beast's coat." He explained.

"Oh. I don't know what I think of it. I never tried it." Daine said.

Helpfully, he suggested she try it now with Cloud, since the vegetables would take a while to cook.

So Ma asked the temperamental pony if she could (only to be corrected by Numair), and the pony agreed, not knowing if it would help. Ma went to sit near the pony, in the back of the cave while Spots and Mangle left the cave to graze. I watched her, wondering what would happen. Ma seemed to notice that Numair was getting ready to make campfire bread, as she told me not to let him stir it too long, she didn't want hard bread. I chirped with acknowledgement as Numair glared at my ma. Ma closed her eyes and breathed slowly, after a while I realized nothing was going to happen, and became increasingly bored. So I did as my ma had told me, and kept Numair from stirring the bread too long. Once in a while, Cloud whinnied or showed some kind of unhappiness, and I wondered what was going on.

"Lets try again tomorrow," Ma finally said, "My head aches."

"Come eat," Numair called, "You've been at it nearly an hour."

My ma complied, getting up from the floor and walking toward the fire, Cloud trailing after her. Ma reached in her pack, and pulled out a carrot for Cloud, then went to sit with us. I climbed into her lap as Numair handed her a bowl of mildly spiced vegetables and cooked ham. Unfortunately for her, my presence forced her to arrange her arms around me as she ate. As she ate she explained what had happened.

Cloud seemed to listen as she explained, her ears flicking back and forth. When Ma finished she turned her head towards Cloud, as if the pony was telling her something.

"Who then Cloud?" Ma said, I assumed that she was talking to the pony again, and would offer us no explanation to her seemingly, one-sided conversation until they were finished. I tuned out of their conversation, and tuned in to the leftovers from the meal.

"I wish I could hear both sides of this conversation," Numair told me, "I feel so left out sometimes."

I whistled in agreement, it was not only confusing to listen to, but I also couldn't help but feel cheated when they could have private conversations like this.

Ma finally turned back to us, and relayed their conversation to us. I listened as she told us that Cloud had told her to try it with Brokefang, because he was a hunter like her, and she was a grazer. Even though Cloud had known her longest, that fact could not make up for their differences.

Numair had told her that he thought it interesting, and probably true, as Cloud would be wiser on this subject than him, and (noticing that she was tired) told her to go to bed. When she refused, he told her the moon would not stop its monthly journey because he cooked and cleaned on the came night.

Finally, Ma gave up and climbed into her bedroll, falling asleep the minute she pulled up the blankets. I curled up next to her, and fell asleep, only to wake when Ma did, when the wolves returned from their hunt, and only for a short time at that.

The morning came, damp and chilly as it was, I knew it was only a taste of what was to come. Breakfast was always a quiet time, seeing that neither Ma nor Numair were morning people, and no one wished their anger. The wolves had left to finish last night's kill for breakfast. Afterwards they cleaned up, saddled the horse and set out for the day's journey.

When the wolves returned, Numair was giving a scroll to Ma to send to the king. Once the report had been sent on the wings of a golden eagle named Sunclaw, Ma seemed to have a conversation with Brokefang. Once the matter had been settled, or so I hoped, Ma placed me atop the packs on Mangle's back (my usual perch when traveling) while Numair mounted Spots. Once Ma was seated atop Cloud's back, Numair told Brokefang to "lead on," and so he did.

The wolves trotted away from the cave and down the trail, the horses and their riders not far behind. The path forked farther up the trail, one end lead to the mountains, the other to a nearby river, Brokefang lead them uphill. When Ma asked why he did not follow the river, which would surely lead them to the valley, and be less hard on them, Brokefang replied that it was easier, and that humans went there all the time. He told them of soldiers and men with magic fires would kill wolves on sight, and it was not wise for the pack to travel that way for that very reason.

Once Numair had been informed that the men with magic fires where mages, like him, he seemed to think about what Brokefang had said, and decided it was best to avoid other humans, and take the mountain pass and Brokefang had said. He thanked them for the warning, and they continued on up the mountain road.

They followed the wolves up along the side of the mountains that rimmed the valley of the Long Lake. The wolves did not hesitate when they came to an area bare of trees at noon; rather they trotted into the open. Suddenly, Ma stopped. She got out her crossbow, put an arrow in the notch, and fixed it in place with the clip.

When Numair stepped forward, Cloud took his tunic in her teeth (a polite way of saying she bit him).

"Stormwings," Ma explained.

Numair drew back from the bare ground, and they watched the sky from he tree cover. He reminded my ma that they had not attacked yet, and to keep an open eye. She agreed.

When Ma told us that Brokefang had called them harriers, and told her that they worked with the soldiers and mages, Numair commented that it sounded like Emperor Orzone's work. The emperor was a mage, and seemed to have a special relationship with immortals, Stormwings in particular. Some believed that it was Emperor Orzone's doing that so many immortals were released into the Mortal Realm, Numair included. Orzone had his eye on the country's wealth, and some thought he would attack when the country's defenders were tired and worn out from battling immortals.

"Now, can I shoot them?" Ma asked. I grinned (as much as a dragonet could anyways), Ma really hated Stormwings.

Numair told her not to, and fuming, she made her way back to the trail, after waiting until the immortals were gone of course. Half way back to the trail, Numair stopped, looking at a large, blackened crater on the slope down from them.

Saying something about it not being a natural occurrence, he trudged down the slope toward it.

"This isn't the time to explore!" Ma scolded her teacher.

He either ignored her or did not hear her, for he continued walking toward the crater.

Ma sighed, and told the horses to continue down the trail. (A/N: She said it ALOUD that's how Kitten knows, just had to make that clear otherwise I would have had you all at my throat saying "How on earth would Kit know if she told them?" Don't give me that look, you know you would!) Ma followed Numair with me, wide-eyed peering over her shoulder.

Numair was crouched over a blackened lump, carefully pulling it apart, as we approached. Grimly, Numair held his discovery up before my ma; it was a piece of cloth, the symbol of the Queens Riders proudly displayed on it. "Now we know what happened to the Ninth Rider Group." He stated with equal grimness.

Ma's hands trembled with fury; I knew she had many ties to the Riders, and the sight of the charred flag must have filled her heart with just as much fury as it held sorrow. "And you stopped me from shooting those Stormwings," she said, her voice a deadly quiet.

"They don't kill with blasting fire like this," he stated, "This is battle magic. I have yet to hear of a Stormwing being a war mage."

"I bet they knew about this though."

Numair put a hand to the shoulder opposite I was sitting on. "You're too young to be close-minded," he told her, "A little tolerance wouldn't come amiss." With that he turned around, and started climbing up the hill, folding the charred flag.

!!

OO

My…Hands…Hurt!!

Do you people have any idea how long this took for me to write?? 2 days! This is going to be tougher than I thought, but I will not give up! By the way I do need to inform you that soon I will be going to summer camp at a college for 6 weeks and will most likely not have access to a computer for most of the week. I say most of the week because I will come home on weekends and Friday afternoons, but—no offense—but I would rather spend that time with my friends since one is already upset with me as is because I signed up to go to the camp in the first place…Anyways, after that I leave for our family's boating vacation, and needless to say, there is no computer on the boat. So I'll try to update when I can, but I promise I will not give up!

Now please review while I go soak my hands in a bucket of ice…


	5. anyone know what chapter two's name is?

Okay people, I think I'm going to do 1 chapter a week, so be patient, it may not take a week on the dot, but I will always sta

Okay people, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, my dad's been sick as of late and we found out about a two weeks ago that his appendix had burst, and that if he wasn't healthy he might have died from his organs being poisoned by the resulting bacteria. He was in the hospital for a week, and still isn't full recovered; so my family and I have been in a slump, mine resulting in writer's block. By the way I do not want to hear complaints about not typing out everything a character says, think about what Kit would listen to. Now let me see…

!!

It has been three days since we left the cave. The wolf pack is leading us through a gap in the mountains. When we got to the deepest point, we ate lunch at a spring. Then we followed a stream downhill, until Brokefang stopped.

Ma seemed to listen to Brokefang for a minute, then put me in my sling on her back, and told Numair to leave the horses by a rock—with the pack protecting them, they were safe.

Numair and Ma (with me in my sling) followed Brokefang up a tumble of rock slabs that seemed to go on forever. But when we came to the top, we could see for miles! We could see Long Lake far below, a small village was constructed where a small river (most likely of the stream we had followed) me the lake. And not far offshore, a small, but well-built, castle, topped an island. The island was linked to the village by a bridge, I noted.

Numair took his spyglass from its case and stretched it to its full length, then held it to his eye for a better look. I dimly noted that my ma was explaining to Brokefang what the instrument was, and what it did. "This is Fief Dunlath, without a doubt," he proclaimed, and handed his spyglass to Ma. "I can't see the northern reaches of the lake from here. Is that where the damage is being done? The holes and the tree cutting?"

But Numair didn't get the answer, as after Brokefang seemed to answer, Ma said, "Soldiers at the northern _and_ southern reaches of the valley? Then why not here if they want to put watch dogs at the passes?" Brokefang said something again and Ma translated their conversation.

"This is not good," Numair said, squinting at the castle, "There is no reason for this fief to be heavily guarded. Under law they are only entitled to a force of forty men-at-arms…May I see that again?" Ma returned the glass to his out-stretched hand..

I became bored as Numair and my ma continued to examine the valley, and was therefore, quite pleased when they followed Brokefang as he retreated back to the spot where they had tethered their horses.

I was surprised to note that a new, strange wolf had joined the rest. This strange wolf was a gray-and-white female, with a boldly marked face. Tail erect, and wagging gaily, Brokefang raced to meet her.

"Well, he's glad to meet this one," Numair stated as they followed the wolf more slowly. "Who's the stranger?"

"His mate, Frostfur. The boss female." Ma replied.

Where were you? What took so long? You said you were going only to the other side of the mountain and you have been gone for four nights. I heard Frostfur say. Normally I did not hear what mortal animals said, they never wanted me to hear them and so did not mind-speak with me, but this wolf was angry, and wanted **everyone** to know it.

Brokefang replied, mind-speaking so that only Ma and the other wolves could hear supposedly.

Apparently the gray-and-white wolf was not satisfied with his answer. The only two-legger we need is_ her_. Why didn't you leave those others behind? We can hunt if we are hungry. We don't need food brought to us, like the human's dogs. She snarled.

Fury boiled in my veins like hot lava in a volcano, how _dare_ she insult me! A higher being at that! Though I did not usually think of my self as higher being, this wolf—arrg! In my fury I reared up in my sling, to brace my forepaws on my ma's shoulders, as I screeched my fury at the she-wolf. (A/N: I will not provide a translation, my mother does not allow me to use such vocabulary. Let's just say she picked up the words from when she accidentally overturned one of Numair experiments…)

Ma seemed surprised to hear me say something so rude, but I knew that she could not understand what I had said.

Frostfur looked at us and bared her teeth.

"Enough!" Ma ordered. "We're friends. That means you, Frostfur, and these horses. If you disobey, you'll be sorry.

Frostfur met Ma's eyes, and then looked away. If she said anything, it was nothing she wanted everyone to hear. Then Brokefang nuzzled her reassuringly, and ran down a northward trail, the wolves and their companions following.

The path took us to a line that ran parallel to the lake. It was wide for a game trail, and looked to not only be used by wolves, if the marks on the shrubbery and the tracks on the trail were to be trusted.

Ma showed Numair a tuft of wool that had been caught on a bramble. "Mountain sheep," she proclaimed, "A wolverine, too—keep an eye out for that one. They're nasty when they're crossed."

I looked up the trail and noted with surprise that the wolves were taking turns lifting their legs (A/N: get the hint?) to a pile of meat. "Graveyard Hag, what are they doing?" Ma said, asking the question I so desperately had wanted to ask myself. She jogged to the front of the line and asked the wolves, "What is this? What is wrong with the meat?"

All of a sudden Ma laughed and trotted back to Numair, "The meat was poisoned," she said, "The wolves are telling the hunter what they think of it.. They like the way he curses and throws things when the sees what they have done!" She laughed, and with a grin, Numair joined her. I myself even joined in on the giggle fit that seemed to have overcome our party.

We made several stops to "express our opinions" marking each spot with dung and urine for the foolish hunter to clean up. At the last two stops Cloud and the horses also left "gifts".

"That should_ really _confuse him," Ma told Numair and me, "He'll never figure out how horses came to mark a wolf scent post."

The wolves followed a lesser trail that lead from the main one that lead to a cuplike valley set deep into the mountains. The valley was hidden by tangles of rock, and the woods opened to a clearing around a pond. Large, flattened areas in the brush that were wolf beds, and crossing and recrossing trails were at the water's edge.

From a bunch of reeds came a challenge-bark, quickly followed by five half-grown wolves tumbling out.. They still had what was left of their baby fur, and their colors ranged from brown to frosted gray, I could see they were still working on trading their milk teeth for meat teeth though. They whined and growled nervously, as they eyed us, until the pack surrounded them, taking them from our view.

"He's Longwind, he was baby-sitting" Ma explained to Numair and me, as a gray, brown, and black full-grown male wolf pranced over to greet us. "Say hello to my friends. Cloud you know," she told the wolf. Ma walked toward the pack as Longwind did as she had ordered, but the pups backed away the second they saw her.

I knew bringing strangers was a mistake, Frostfur said with grim satisfaction, so that even _I_ could hear her. Brokefang nuzzled his mate, trying to sweeten her temper.

I watched as Fleetfoot scooted one of the male pups forward, sticking her nose under his belly to move him. Russet did likewise, gripping a female pup and dragging her to my ma by the scruff of her neck.

Still clumsy on her feet, the female was the first to walk forward to sniff Ma's palm. The pup wagged her tail, and her brother came over, the other three pups following suit, timid and whining.

Ma introduced them to Numair and me, but when the introductions were made, I found that the pups would accept Numair, Cloud, and the horses, but not me. Nothing could change their minds on that aspect, when I even came near them, they would run, and hide behind the adult wolves. I finally gave up, and sulkily waddled over to the pond, my scales a tristful gray. I pretended to ignore everyone, playing with the stones at the water's edge.

Dimly, I heard my mother say to a wolf (I don't know which), "She's no more than a pup herself. I can't even talk to her as I could to her ma. She looks big, but as dragons go she's a baby."

All of a sudden, Russet trotted over to me and began to paw at my rocks, so I began to play with him, the fun taking my mind off the pup's fear of me. As we played my scales once again became they're standard gold-tinged blue.

Ma decided to play too, but not with me, she was playing with a pup she called "Silly", wrestling with him over a stick. She stopped in her playing however when Brokefang came up to her, and must have asked her to guard the pups for the next thing Ma said was, "We'll be honored to guard your pups."

After Ma had told them that the pack left, including Russet to my disappointment. Ma and Numair went about their business, Ma grooming the horses, while Numair cooked, while I tried to get handouts from Numair. But while I enjoyed the smell of frying bacon, so did the pups. Fortunately, their curiosity for the new scent was greater than their fear of me, and it seemed that as long as I was on the other side of the fire from them, they were happy. When the first pan of bacon was finally done, I was, for once, grateful for the pups; the pleading of their five brown eyes combined with my slit-pupiled ones caused Numair to hand over the contents of the bacon-filled dish.

(Umm…people I have a problem here…you see, Kit isn't mentioned in this part, the book quotes "After Numair, the pups, and the horses went to bed, Daine lay awake, listening to the chatter of owls and bats." Giving no mention of Kit's occupation until the morning after, so I'm just going to say that she fell asleep too, all right?)

Finally, feeling drowsy, and noticing that everyone else was bedding down, I curled up at my ma's side noticing hazily that Ma wasn't sleeping I drifted off to sleep…

I woke to find Numair crouching over the pond and was immediately angry, believing that he was playing with _**my**_ rocks! But, when I went over to scold him with my intense vocabulary of squeaks, whistles and trills, I noticed he was not playing with my rocks, but doing something far different…Dotted with white sparks, faint black fire was streaming from his fingers, forming a circle on the lake's surface. I watched with interest, that was, until he sighed, seemingly making the fire vanish before my eyes.

I wondered what he had been doing, but my question was quickly answered as Ma wanted to know the same thing, and, unlike me, could voice her questions in a way that Numair could understand. "What was that?" she wanted to know, even as she was dressing under her blanket's cover.

He responded glumly, grimacing slightly as he got to his feet, "There's an occult net over the valley. It's subtle—I doubt many would even sense it—and it serves to detect the use of magic. It also would block all messages I might send to the king. To anyone for that matter. And since this city is hidden beneath the aura cast by the City of the Gods, no one outside can even tell the net is here."

"Wonderful," Ma said dryly, "so Dunlath is a secret within a secret."

"Precisely," Numair said, beaming at her, "I couldn't have said it better."

"And this net—will it pick up _any_ magic?" Ma said, I could tell she was worried about usage of her own magic—what if they found a wounded animal along their way? "Will them that set it know you looked at it?"

"No. A scrying spell is passive, not active. It shows what exists without influencing it."

"What's here that so important?" Ma wanted to know, "Stormwing patrols, two forts, a magical net—what has Fief Dunlath got that needs so much protecting?"

"We need to find out," Numair agreed, "As soon as you've had breakfast, I think we should see the northern part of the valley."

Ma must have been eager to get going, for she ate quickly as Numair saddled Cloud and Spots, and set the camp in order. Ma then convinced Mangle to stay with the pack after she convinced him—and them—that he would be left alone. Ma offered to bring me along with them in the sling, but after listening to the one-sided conversation she had had with Mangle, all it took was a glance at the sling, and at the still-skittish Mangle to make up her mind to stay with him. I shook my head and trotted over to Mangle, showing Ma that I would like to stay to comfort the nervous packhorse. When I seated myself at Mangle's feet, I could feel him relax, he knew me and knew that I would not let the wolves hurt him while Ma was gone. Ma relaxed too, knowing that I could very well defend myself, and seated herself atop Cloud. I watched them walk away, Shortsnout, Brokefang, and Fleetfoot in the lead, with Numair and Ma following behind. That was the last thing I saw as I fell asleep, comfortable on the sturdy packhorse's back.

The next thing I knew, I was awoken by the sound of everyone except Ma returning to camp, when I whistled an inquiry to Numair about Ma's absence, he gave me an understanding smile and told me she was hunting. I gave a trill to let him know I understood, and went to go play with my rocks.

When Ma got back, it was nearly back, but I didn't mind, she had been in luck and had found two plump rabbits for dinner. The pack had left to find their own dinner, leaving the pups in Russet and Numair's care. Once Ma appeared russet got up and left to do his own hunting, I was sad to see him go—he was always so nice to me! Numair had already started a pot of rice—a food that I did not care for being what Ma called a meat-eater—and smiled when he saw Ma. Ma said nothing as she had cleaned, spitted, and started cooking the rabbits, oiled the rough patches on my hide (a procedure I rather liked), groomed Cloud and the horses, and wrestled with the pups. All the while Numair wandered to the other side of the pond, stretching out on the ground, and lying, looking at the overhead trees there.

Soon Russet came back, grinning happily, a handful of bright feathers in his fur. I guess pheasants don't have very good eyesight, I pondered. Ma pulled the brightly colored feathers out of his fur as he panted happily. When Ma was finished he licked her face in gratitude and trotted over to greet me.

I faintly heard my ma ask Brokefang to help her with the badger's assignment, as I played with Russet.

Soon though Russet was tired and went to go take a nap under a nearby tree, so I went to go watch Ma. When she came back to "the rest of the world " as Numair phrased it, she stretched and told me, "At least I see colors, that's _something_."

I trilled in agreement, though not exactly sure what she was talking about.

The pack returned, their hunger satiated from their hunt, as we were just banking our fire. They must have fed on a careless sheep for I heard Ma tell them of what harm that could cause them. They seemed to have tried to assure her, but only seemed to make her worrying worse. With a frown still on her face, Ma went to bed, and I curled up on her side and slept.

In the morning, Ma, Numair, and me, left the wolves behind, to ride into Fief Dunlath. We reached the village at noon, entering the stable yard of the town's small and tidy inn. Ma took the pack in which I was hidden, and slung it over her shoulder, following Numair inside, as the hostlers took their mounts from them. We stood in the common room, blinking as our eyes adjusted from the bright light outside to the dark common room, as someone in the back yelled, "Master Parlan, we've guests!" quickly followed by the inn keeper coming out, and bowing to Numair.

"Good day to ye, sir. Ye require service?" he asked, his brisk, mountain accent obvious.

"Yes," Numair said, "I'd like adjoining rooms for my student and me."

And me! I mentally said, indignantly.

"Forgive me, mistress. I dinna see ye." He apologized, bowing to Ma. Then looking her over he said, "Ye said—adjoining rooms, sir?"

"Yes, if there's a connecting door it must be locked." Numair replied.

The innkeeper bowed, his eyes on Ma. "Forgive me, sir—_locked_?" he said.

Numair looked down his nose at the man, as Ma blushed. "People have sordid minds, Master Parlan." It did not matter that his clothes were travel-worn, he spoke like a person used to servants obeying his orders. "I would like my student to be spared idle gossip, if you please."

Parlan bowed low, and informed us that they had two very nice rooms overlooking the kitchen garden that were very quiet (whatever that meant), and that there wasn't much excitement in these parts.

"Excellent," Numair said upon hearing the news, "We'll take hot baths, as soon as you are able to manage please. And lunch, I think, after the baths." A gold coin appearing in Numair's hand, only to disappear in Parlan's.

"Very good, sir. Follow me." He said, as he led the way upstairs.

I began to get impatient, it was _**hot**_ in this bag, and I wanted out…_**Badly.**_ So I chirped and wiggled around a little bit to show Ma my impatience, only to be hushed as she said, "Hush, I'll let you out in a moment."

Parlan opened the door, and we walked inside—well, they walked, I was carried. Ma let me out and I began observing my surroundings, the room was small and neat, and the bath clearly satisfied Ma, but when the maid came with lunch, it was back in the bag with me—I would get the leftovers later. After lunch Ma decided to have a nap and I decided to take another look at the adjoining door to Numair's room.

I began to scratch at the lock, apparently waking Ma with my lock picking, because she said, "Leave it be, Kit. You've seen locks back home." But I ignored her, some primal instinct telling me what to do. Sitting back on my haunches, and stretching so that my eyes were level with the keyhole, I gave a soft trill. The door swung open, surprising Numair on the other side of the door, wearing a clean shirt and breeches holding a sheet of paper.

Frowning he asked, "Did I know she could do that?"

Though the question sounded to be directed at himself, Ma replied, "No more than I did."

Though Numair glared at me, I continued my inspection of his room, I had already become bored of Ma and mine's, and was curious to see if his had anything more entertaining—it usually did. "That door was locked for a _reason_," he told me sternly, but I once again, ignored him, and continued snooping trough his bed. Turning to Ma he added, "I _do_ need to speak with you. We've been invited tonight to dine at the castle." I perked up at the hearing of two words: dine, and castle. Eating was my favorite thing to do, besides annoying Numair and playing with my rocks. And castles were always fun to explore!

"Why?" Ma implored.

"It's typical of nobles who live out of the way. A newcomer is worth some attention—its how they get news. I don't suppose you packed a dress."

Ma and Numair left to find the village's seamstress, and when they came back, Ma was not happy. Numair was forcing her to wear a pink dress. I shuddered, thanking all the gods that _I_ did not have to wear dresses. Ma shoved me back into my bag as a maid came in to do up her stubborn curls, only to disappoint me further when the maid had left, by informing me that I would most certainly _not_ be allowed to attend the dinner that night. Upon that news I promptly turned the gray color they knew meant I was sulking, and hid under the bed. I heard them leave just as I drifted off to sleep…

Okay people, I've been thinking I should change the name of the story, so here are the options I have so far (I know, not very many…but that's why I have the "other" option up!):

A: from a dragon's eyes

B: the POV of our favorite dragonet

C: other (with this one please leave a name suggestion)

Okay then, thank you, now I need to tell you yet another reason why I am not updating fast, because I am not getting reviews! What's my motivation? Now please tell me my motivation by clicking on that little purpleish-blue box! For the less intelligent…REVIEW!!…Thank you…


	6. listen up! AN

Okay, I am extremely sorry people, especially those who were so kind as to add me to their alert list, but I need to admit something. This story is going nowhere soon. Turns out I'm one of those people who struggle to keep a passing grade, and I never seem to have the time to sit down and type a chapter that long up. I promise that when I have free time and am and inspired AND have the book on me I will update. Believe it or not while I was a camp I got bored in class and wrote the next chapter, so I do have it written. The bad news? I lost it. No not that way! Not mentally! …Well, maybe mentally too, but what I really mean is that I lost what I wrote and I can't seem to find it again. My biggest problems, though, is that I'm not inspired to do this as much anymore and that I don't have the book. But you really can't blame me that much for not wanting to continue—I mean, really??? I have almost a thousand hits to this story and 12 reviews!!!! 12 people 12!!! Okay, yeah, definitely mental too…anyways I'm going to take a break from this story or possibly quit it all together. You people can decide if you want to stick with me or not.

Sincerely,

Your very forlorn authoress

The Dragon of Frozenflame


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